RIP Hermie

While at the beach a few weeks ago, the kids talked me into buying hermit crabs to take home. (I only went for it because of peer pressure from the cousins..how could I say no?)

The girls both bought one.

Olivia (oldest cousin) quickly emailed me a google search about caring for our new pets.  Olivia...we have failed you.  Thank you for your love an concern.

Today, there were many tears before school.  

Mary's little "hermie" failed to be a hermit.  At first their was excitement because her crab was in full view..no shell..nothin' but his bday suit. (see left side of box).  And then, there were tears and tears as she realized that Hermie was not moving...not a pincer, not an antennae...nothing:(

(For those of you ignorant to crabs, apparently, they crawl out of their shells before they die.)

Allie was pretty much in charge of keeping the little dudes watered, and let's just say they were parched. She was also devastated.

Allie has the ability to earn money at home, but Mary doesn't, and Allie put her arm around Mary, and as both of them cried, she offered to buy her a brand new crab.

...and just like that...the prospect of a bigger prettier shell came into view.  Mary quit crying.  

I'm so glad she cared so much.

Same day...

...five years ago.

Allie was 4 1/2 (looking much like Garrett)

And that chubby girl was 18 months.  

Nothing special about today (actually this post was written yesterday) .  

Just can't believe I'm still meeting at the park for play dates!

I took chubby boy, Garrett, and Abbott yesterday, and they about wore me out!  I'm getting too old for the park.  Didn't even take a pic.  Slacker.

He's a real BOY!

It's not easy having two older sisters.

The dress up, the nail painting, the twirling.  It's all Gman has ever known.  As of recent, he asked Becky to have his nails painted.  He has told me he really likes my outfit.  He is definitely a wild and crazy boy, but he's around girls all the time.

Hubs was getting stressed.

He has joked around (or he may not be joking) that Garrett can have no more soy milk (possible estrogenic properties found in soy), and that he needed to something MANly..FAST.

I've been dragging my feet because for most activities boys have to be 4. (my first excuse)  My second excuse is that he's only 4, and the girls are so busy that I wanted to squeeze one more year out of him before adding another busy kid to the mix.

Hubs could NOT WAIT to try (excuse me, for Garrett to try) out Tae Kwon Do.  He filmed the whole lesson.  He's got him all signed up, and has already looked at his schedule and reported that he can take him all of September and October.

His first lesson was a huge success... daddy and boy very excited.

So excited that hubs posted on Facebook.  I think he's posted like 2 things on FB...that David came home, and now that Garrett is in Tae kwon do.  I'm totally going to get in trouble for the over exaggerating.  

They topped the night off with a MAN DATE.

at Chickfila....the boy's favorite.

We have been TERRIBLE about the kids' date nights this past summer.  I don't think we missed a month for 2 years, and when David arrived, that all went south.

September is almost here, and we decided to start including Garrett.  Can't wait for my turn!  

This boy has made me flat out crazy this summer in some ways, but he is rotten cute...thankfully.

One other totally non-related thing on adoption.

You know I'm a total Jenn Hatmaker groupie.  Her blog makes me laugh and cry.  I saw her speak last year, and she's really an amazing, raw communicator.  Her two youngest kids celebrated their one year mark at home after being adopted from Ethiopia.   I LOVED her post about it because I could relate to so many things she said.  I think having a 2 year old meant having "shorter" durations of the phases she articulated because 2 year olds probably adapt better than 5 year olds because they don't remember their past for very long. I made a total generalization without thinking just then.  (I meant having a 2 year old from a nurturing home where there was no neglect at any point.) However, I definitely found myself in each of the phases she described.

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2012/08/21/the-truth-about-adoption-one-year-later

500

This marks my 500th post milestone.  I guess the whole post is about milestones....warning, this post is way too long.  I combined posts because of my internet situation.

The girls started school last week.  Allie is in fourth, and Mary is in first.  They are so happy at their schools, and weren't hesitant, but they were really tired by the end of the week.  

I made a collage for Allie's school book this year.  This is her 5th year of real school, so I made a milestone page.

I just now finished last year's school books on Shutterfly.  I haven't done Garrett's yet.  My plan was to do them a book every year at least through elementary school (They probably don't want me walking right behind them with a camera on every field trip after 5th grade.)  

I'm not sure if that's realistic now that there are four of them!  The dilemma is that if I put all their school activities in our family book, then it becomes too much.

You see the debacles I face as a scrapbooking addict:)

Sweet sisters!  Mary was not able to play much with Allie on the playground last year because they keep the kindergarteners separate.  She told me she was looking forward most to playing with Allie...not sure how Allie feels about this.

Switching gears.  I'll go ahead and do a 3 month update on David because it's almost here!

We had our 3 month visit with our social worker yesterday.  I had to turn in 8 pics of him in a collared shirt.  He NEVER wears collared shirts in the summer because it's too hot.  Therefore, I had to change his clothes five times on Thursday to get some pics.

He looks so different than he did when he first came home!  He's grown 2 inches and gained 2 pounds...oh my!  My back is tired!

Here are a couple of videos.  David LOVES to sing.  He is trying so hard to say the ABC's but he is still missing quite a few sounds in the English language.  

He and Garrett are making some real progress!  They still fight quite a bit, but I think boys play by fighting...so I'm not used to it.  

I happened to be videoing David when Garrett walked up, and I caught a rare sweet moment on video.  They've started sharing a little better.  David is giving him more of a chance now that the girls are at school.  He even asked to hold Garrett's hand yesterday.  That was HUGE!

Overall, David turned a corner about 3 weeks ago.  He seems to be very settled and very attached to us all.  I was putting him to bed last night, and he always shuts the shudders.  He saw hubs drive in from work, and he went crazy screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"  He adores Mary like no other (shhh..don't tell Allie).  Mary has really surprised me because I thought she would resent more chaos, but she really enjoys him, and wouldn't change a thing.

Our social worker was describing another family by saying that the dad would come home from work, and feel anxious right before walking in the door because he didn't know what to expect when he walked in.  Would his wife have been "spent" by another day with their new child?, etc.  

She said that for him, one day, that feeling just disappeared.

I could DEFINITELY relate.  Every morning, when I walked in David's room, I had that same described anxious feeling.  There were many days that I didn't want to walk in!  And everyday, I'd walk in and say, Good morning, good morning.  Three months ago, he'd sheww me off and say (yell) no!  Now I'm greeted with a HUGE CHUBBY SMILE...followed by  , "MORNIN'!"

That feeling did disappear.  I'm totally attached:)

Thank you God for this sweet boy.

  

Weekend

I'm still internet scavenging...making the most of my sister's bed rest:)

Bunny and Pappy came down for the weekend.  We had a great time!  Bunny's birthday was Saturday and mine was Sunday. 

The kids love a good party:)  Bunny's birthday was also Reese's birthday.  We love and miss you Reese!

My big girl is looking so big!

Everytime David poses, he hugs up to Mary!  

Sorry for the lame blog post, but about all I can do is get pics posted!

Where did she go?

We have had no internet.

No internet?  It is like being without water or electricity (of course I'm kidding).  Allie told me she wished we moved in a house that was "situated." I didn't realize how much time we spend on the computer..yikes!

I'm at piano with Allie, so I'm borrowing some kilobytes.

Quick one.  We've been at the beach with my family!  I was so hesitant about going since hubs couldn't make the trip this year.  THE KIDS DID GREAT!!!!  (I did take Becky the great...so I wasn't alone!)

We missed my sissy and fam...she's on bed rest a while longer!

David was getting kind of tired at this point, but this was one of my favorite pics.

My parents and all the grandkids except Abbott and baby Hannah who is due in October.  Look at David hugging Abigail.  He LOVED her...and all of them:)

These are the triplets (born in May, June, July of 2008). I'm so glad they are 4!  

Love some crab hunting!

Look who we ran into!  Zach and family were right down the beach.

Karate man!  Well I'm really not done...I have lots more pics, but ran out of time at piano...more later:)

For real

It's AUGUST! 

Happy 2 months at home big D:)

The blog can be deceiving...

...because I can show you all his happy faces:)

For real?

The first month he was home, he portrayed almost a "pleaser" personality.  He didn't understand much, but he knew that nodding his head "yes" received a good response from us.

Our second month.

The honeymoon ended.

He learned to say no (and it's a snappy, scary no..ha) and when he becomes upset he exhibits a shrill scream that will pause any human in their tracks.  I would equate it to a baby pig that is running around the farm trying to avoid being turned into bacon.  It is very unnerving (just normal crying is a welcome relief) and has really tested this mamma.  

Every day he seems more settled/attached, but I'm learning that does not mean he gets easier.  It means he's not afraid to portray his real personality which at this point is a bit on the strong-headed end of things.  

I am not new to toddlerhood, and I know they are frustrating little people.  However, trying to bond/attach to a child who is screaming and unhappy a lot of the time, has tested me and challenged me more than most things. Love is a choice.  Love is a choice. Love is a choice.  

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Please do not question my love for the little guy!  I love him to pieces.  My point is, some days love is hard whether it be an adopted child or a biological child.  I think God uses children to refine us, to strip us of our selfishness, and to give us a picture of how He chooses to love us unconditionally in all our ugliness.

We've seen some positive things this month too!

He is a REALLY GOOD SLEEPER.  I AM SO THANKFUL!  I cannot even tell you his schedule or you'd barf all over this blog if you have a child who doesn't sleep well.

His words are being added daily.

Mamma, Daddy, Mary, Alloe (allie), boy, puppy (his favorite stuffed animal), Emmy (my sister), Abba (abbott), yes, no, bath, pool, towel, hot, tee tee, boo boo, ouch, nanna, papoo, pappy, bubby (bunny), ball, doll, popsicle (poppa dee do)...I could go on for quite a bit.

These are the words he says intentionally.  He can repeat many words when asked.  He still mostly uses signs to communicate.  

He drinks milk and water and has a sign for both. He loves to sing.  He didn't watch tv until recently, but he loves Blue's Clues!  He loves to be on his tricycle outside.  He does NOT like the pool much anymore and it's a big job to get him in a swim suit and floatie. That is a big challenge because the other kids want to swim, and he has to stay outside while we swim.  Oh well:)

Ahh...that's our two months. I am reminded every day that every day is a NEW day with a two year old.